


We keep this love in a photograph

by Changdeol



Series: MG, canon compliant, drabble series [4]
Category: TharnType the Series (TV), เกลียดนักมาเป็นที่รักกันซะดีๆ | TharnType: The Series (TV) RPF
Genre: Canon Compliant, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:20:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23858239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Changdeol/pseuds/Changdeol
Summary: Gulf just needs a little reassurance that this is something worth waiting for. Maybe old photogaphs and late night conversations help a little.
Relationships: Mew Suppasit Jongcheveevat/Gulf Kanawut Traipipattanapong
Series: MG, canon compliant, drabble series [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1704388
Comments: 9
Kudos: 117





	We keep this love in a photograph

‘Honey, do you have plans for tomorrow?’

Gulf lift up his head from looking at his phone before sending a guilty look towards the books in front of him. He’d excused himself from the dinner table early because he was supposed to study for a test. Instead, he’d been browsing the World Wide Web for old videos of Neymar’s famous goal which he had seen all already anyway.

Great.

‘Not really, not that I know of,’ Gulf finally replied to his mother’s question, sending her an inquisitive look.

‘It’s nothing that important,’ the woman assured. ‘Your aunt will stop by for lunch tomorrow. You haven’t seen her in a while so I was just wondering whether you’ll be here to have lunch with us.’

‘Oh, sure,’ Gulf agreed absent-mindedly, his thoughts already drifting away. It was probably his mother’s older sister they were talking about, in which case her visit would be most welcome because she was the only one who didn’t have a habit of interrogating Gulf and his sister about their love lives.

‘You’re studying?’ His mother asked again after a moment of silence and Gulf nodded, now feeling embarrassed. He realised that his mother knew he wasn’t. It was her way of guilt-trip him into putting his mobile phone aside.

‘I have a test on Friday.’ It was only Tuesday but Gulf had no illusions he would probably end up procrastinating until the last moment. It was just his way of coping with the stress.

‘Okay then. I’ll leave you the light on. Good night.’ Gulf nodded, sending her a small smile in thanks. The woman left and closed the door to his room behind her.

Gulf eventually sighed and turned to his Communications textbook but one minute looking at it blankly gave him enough excuse to discard it to the side and take a break. He leaned away into the pillows, making himself more comfortable as he picked up his phone again.

He hadn’t had a chance to look at his IG this evening yet but since the start of the series, his posts had begun to reach a much wider audience and he therefore tried to keep the hype going, alternating between posting personal photos from events and shots from their show. It was quite astounding to see the ardent fan response in the comment section and oftentimes Gulf had to take a step back lest he felt completely overwhelmed. P’Best once told him not to look at it too much and so far, Gulf had been sticking to his resolution of looking at his social media accounts no more than twice a day unless he had to.

Earlier today he posted a photo from their charity activity from two days before. It was a good shot to include his thanks with. However, deep down he knew that he’d chosen it also because he knew that P’Mew would see it, even if he didn’t in anyway acknowledge it. P’ was not the type of person who could just forget that somebody surprised him with a confession of romantic interest but Gulf supposed that posting a memory of that day wouldn’t hurt anyone, either.

Gulf scrolled down for a while, enjoying the well wishes he received in the messages. It was probably not entirely healthy to rely so much on the validation of strangers but since he became a relatively high profile person, the stakes also became higher. He couldn’t simply ignore criticism anymore, no matter how much he would want to. Consequently, he would habitually get drunk on the feeling of public approval and then frustrated when he saw unreasonable hatred posted by anonymous accounts under his address.

P’Mew seemed to have it much more under control but he’d also had years of practice. At the moment, Gulf could only take it day by day and hope that things would settle down. He was not surprised that there were people who wanted to undermine his credibility but it still hurt sometimes.

That’s also why the positive comments meant the world to him.

Gulf backtracked to his feed, noting that he’d missed P’Mew’s post of the day. It was a smiling photo of himself, also from their recent event. There was no caption, only a few happy emoticons under it. Gulf couldn’t gauge whether P’ simply matched Gulf’s idea or they posted independently from one another but considering two days had already passed, it couldn’t have _not_ been related to their conversation that day. They were both reminiscing.

Gulf sighed, suddenly feeling emotionally exhausted. This is what he’d been reduced to, posting enigmatic clues online which he didn’t even know whether or not P’ saw or cared about. But Gulf couldn’t be any more forward in the situation. He’d already laid it all on P’ and explicitly said he’d give him time to process the development. Therefore, the proverbial ball was now on P’s court and Gulf couldn’t really press him anymore about the answer.

The two long days of almost complete radio silence in their private Line chat room made for an excruciating distraction. Gulf had other familial obligations – not to mention, school work – to tend to during that time but the matter had never really left his mind. Worse, who knew how much longer P’ would take to address the situation.

If at all, Gulf cringed. No, P’ had to, even just to let Gulf down gently. Simply pretending that nothing had been said was neither healthy nor helping anyone in a long run. Though considering P’Mew’s somewhat repressive personality, perhaps it wouldn’t be a complete surprise if it had indeed crossed his mind.

P’s feed was similar to Gulf’s – full of promotional photos of the show and himself. Gulf had already browsed his page not once and not even twice but now he went back specifically to the photos posted since the announcement of their show. P’ had a penchant for including song lyrics and inspirational quotes under his pictures. The action always made Gulf smile whenever he thought about it; it was cheesy and because of that, strangely suited P’.

February 15. Gulf remembered that brief photo shoot because he was extremely nervous. He hadn’t really interacted with P’ that many times prior to that meeting, there was the audition, then two or three meetings with the producers, then the fitting… Ah, yes, Gulf himself posted a photo with the hairstylist just days before that.

Both he and P’ were still awkward but determined to overcome the unfamiliarity as soon as they could. It was also the day when they finally got to exchange their Line information.

There wasn’t that much of Gulf on P’s feed until pretty much September but that’s not really what Gulf was looking for. He scrutinised all the in between photos instead.

March 11. Gulf liked that look on P’Mew but he liked the caption even more. To an outside person, P’s messages probably appeared either meaningless or cryptic, but to Gulf they reflected P’s personal transition he got to witness at times. He might never know the full story behind some of them, but he did remember the times when P’Mew came to the rehearsals under the weather or trying his best not to show his frustration. There were probably many situations in which he had to hold himself back and remain professional, even if behind the scenes things were not looking great.

April 3. P’ always tried his best to stay positive and the trip to Hong Kong in between the rehearsals had clearly lift up his spirits for he later returned in a much brighter mood.

April 4. _Huh_.

Gulf switched back to their Line chat room, scrolling up for a good minute or so before he located the string of messages he was looking for under a specific date. He never bothered to cross reference anything related to himself with P’s posts since there was never any need to.

_P’Mew, I hope you’re having a good trip na._

[Thank you]

[:happy emoji:]

_How’s the food?_

_:smiley face_ :

[It’s always about the food for you, isn’t it? 555]

[The dim sum variety here is great. So is the pancake cake.]

_Ah, sweets… But P’. Do you know who dessert’s favourite actor is?_

[Huh? Dessert’s favourite actor? Who’s that?]

_Robert Brownie, Jr., P’ 555_

[:face palm:]

Gulf cackled when he re-read the conversation. He knew exactly what most of his friends and family thought of the word puns he so industriously shared with anyone who’d listen, often at the least opportune moments, but he didn’t really care that much. He was hilarious and he knew it.

Gulf looked at the photo posted on April 4 again and then at the caption. He probably wasn’t the only person ever to send P’Mew silly messages and they probably couldn’t even be called cute. But even so…

Gulf wouldn’t be naïve enough to think all those posts were meant to be about him, it was not in his nature to read too much into things he didn’t think really concerned him. But he still had to wonder how P’Mew came to think of him as more than just a nong.

July 6. Gulf remembered that day because that was the first time P’ called him without a prior notice and they ended up talking all through the evening. Personally, Gulf considered it a considerable turn in their relationship. Despite having worked together for quite a while, it was the first time P’ reached out to Gulf like a friend would and they conversed about something else, other than just work. Something had shifted on that day and they became closer.

August 17. Gulf frowned. He had had a few bad days in August because he was fighting with his ex-girlfriend at the time but he could no longer pinpoint the exact date. It’s not exactly something one penned down in their calendar… On August 16 the two of them along with some friends were supposed to go to Samut Prakan for a short road trip. Gulf had never fully committed to the plan because he knew that despite the set schedule, shooting the series was unpredictable. When he eventually had to turn them down, she was still beyond upset and left without him.

Wasn’t it that time when P’Mew caught Gulf all angry on the phone with her? Possibly so. There was an instance when P’ took him out to eat after work once or twice but Gulf couldn’t really remember the details.

Gulf closed the IG app, shaking his head in exasperation and then looking at the time. It was after ten pm and he stopped even pretending he’d get to crack his textbooks open tonight. Instead, he pulled up his Line again. He stared at the last text he exchanged with P’Mew just before the latter was supposed to arrive at his house two nights ago.

He did say he wouldn’t push P’ for an answer. But he could still talk to him about something else, right?

He started typing before he could talk himself out of it.

_P’, are you asleep yet?_

Gulf didn’t have to wait long for the acknowledgement because the message was seen within the next minute but the response didn’t come until twenty more when Gulf was ready to call it a night. It hurt to be ignored but he had his pride. He wouldn’t be jumping through the window if he wasn’t welcome in the first place.

[Not yet. Trying to study.]

[:crying emoticon:]

Gulf smiled, the shadow of previous annoyance quickly disappearing.

_I was supposed to study for my test but I’ve been on my phone for two hours straight 555_

_:cackling emoticon:_

[You lack discipline, nong, you know that?]

_I thought we agreed I’m P’Gulf._

[Sure, anything for P’Gulf _na krub_.]

[:salute emoticon:]

Gulf cackled to himself. He didn’t realise how much he missed his usual small talk with P’.

_I’ll probably just study the night before anyway. Procrastination is my middle name, after all._

Gulf wondered if he made P’ smile at least a little bit.

_Hey, P’…_

The answer came a little delayed but Gulf didn’t know if it was intentional.

[Yes?]

_Do you know what kind of vegetables librarians like best?_

Gulf chuckled again. He could only imagine P’Mew’s face right now. He probably didn’t expect a joke out of all things Gulf could say.

[What kind?]

P’ probably felt positively done with Gulf in that moment. But, if Gulf was lucky, perhaps there was still a little of that fond gaze lingering when P’ was looking at their chat room.

_Peas and quiet 5555_

[I have to put a stop to those terrible puns sometime soon. Remind me why I keep indulging you, again?]

_I’m adorable?_

_:self-satisfied emoticon:_

Gulf would have said something flirtier but he could tell that right now was not the time.

[That you are.]

Gulf stilled over his keyboard. He didn’t quite know what an appropriate response to this would be. When he noticed that P’ was still typing, he decided to wait.

[Give me a couple of days more, alright _na_?]

[I promise I’ll give you an answer soon. It’s just… not easy for me.]

[There are many things I have to think over and even more I want to tell you, but it’s not a conversation to be had over the phone.]

[Just a few more days, okay?]

Gulf immediately nodded, realising a second too late P’ couldn’t see him. So he typed.

 _You can take your time, P’. Just don’t cut me off, alright? I’ve missed you._ He added before he could stop himself.

[I’ve missed you too.]

[Good night, hmm. I’ll try to read a little more before sleep.]

[:goodnight emoticon:]

Gulf smiled.

_Goodnight, P’._

He locked his phone and threw it away onto the covers. He then took a deep breath. Patience was yet another virtue that a simple guy like Gulf did not have in abundance. But somehow, P’s words made it a little more bearable. This was not an easy decision for a person like P’ for many reasons and because of that, Gulf thought that he needed to be extra careful. It was not a passing flirt they could get into while bored. From the start, it seemed to be a rather serious commitment based on mutual understand and trust. 

Gulf himself still had some maturing to do in the romance department. But with P’Mew on board, he thought that he would be most certainly up to the task.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for the last feedback and as always, feel free to leave kudos and comments if you liked this drabble. Have a nice day!


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